KIRKUS REVIEW

A young hijabi finds herself, her
brother, and her friends trapped in a very dangerous game.

Upper East Side Bangladeshi-American
Farah’s having a hard time clicking with her old friends from Queens when they
come to her 12th birthday party. But when her trying-but-adorable little
brother—he has ADHD—vanishes into a mysterious board game called The
Gauntlet of Blood and Sand, white Essie and brown-skinned Alex don't hesitate
to join Farah in jumping in to rescue him. Once in the game, they are given
three challenges—and failure to win all three will trap them there. Farah’s
desperation to find Ahmad heightens these deadly stakes. In her debut, Riazi
gives readers a Muslim protagonist who resists genre clichés: she’s resolute
rather than feisty, smart but aware of her weaknesses. Secondary
characterization is not so strong; Essie and Alex seem more types than people.
The superb worldbuilding offers an ever shifting topography, rather like an
Escher vision of the East. Riazi’s lush descriptions reject exoticization,
Farah's cultural familiarity positioning readers within her perspective: a
“sweet sunset pink mosque, beautifully domed and proudly placed,” reminds her
of buildings she’s seen in Bangladesh and India, “sharing a linked history of
wide arches and rounded roofs.” Riazi combines such tropes as a magic map with
the winningly original lizard Resistance corps, offering just the right mix of
familiarity and newness.

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